Opinion: Community Driven

By Julie Bush, ASLA 

While some Philadelphians are debating the merits of historic preservation, neighborhoods are lining up to be designated as historic districts, aiming to protect their distinctive appearance and their communities. Spruce Hill, an area of West Philly between 38th and 46th Streets, bound by Market Street to the north and Woodland Avenue to the south, would like to be next.   

A member of the Spruce Hill Community Association (SHCA) Board, the Zoning Committee, and the Historic Preservation Committee, I moved to Spruce Hill in 2003. I was drawn by the beautiful Victorian homes, set back from the sidewalk to allow for small front yards and connected porches.  

As a design professional, I am pro development, but I have witnessed multiple buildings in my neighborhood being torn down by developers and replaced by bland boxes to house students.  In these situations, the quality of the architecture does not matter — student residents are temporary and seem to care little about such things.   

In some cases, even the ownership of the building is temporary. I have noticed a pattern: developers buy an existing building, demolish it, build a new one, get it fully rented, and then sell it.  If the quality of construction is poor, it’s on the next owner. I am tired of outside forces profiting from the destruction of the fabric of my neighborhood.   

Spruce Hill has one of the largest collections of Victorian-era housing in the country and is already on the National Register of Historic Places as part of the West Philadelphia Streetcar Suburb Historic District. However, the National Register does not shield a property from demolition. Protection requires designation by the Philadelphia Historical Commission, either as a contributing building in a historic district or an individual listing on the Philadelphia Register of Historic Places. The nomination of Quadrant 1 of the Spruce Hill Historic District (south of Spruce and east of 43rd Street) is currently under review by the Historical Commission.  Hopefully, by the time this spring Issue of Context is published, we will have taken the first step toward being declared a historic district.  

Spruce Hill also made a play for historic district designation in 1987 and in 2002. I was not involved with those efforts, but common knowledge in the neighborhood is that developers got in the ear of City Council. A false narrative was introduced: The expense of home ownership in historic districts led to population displacement and gentrification. Obviously, there are many factors that lead to gentrification, but these include the demolition of older buildings and the construction of new apartment buildings with higher rents. Historic designation actually helps to prevent that kind of gentrification.  

As part of the Spruce Hill Historic District process, SHCA has led multiple public meetings.  We hosted a forum in fall 2022 with Powelton Village and Overbrook Farms, neighborhoods that were both successful in recent efforts to be declared historic districts. At a panel discussion in spring 2023, concerns about the cost of home repairs in the district were raised and answered. A city Historical Commission representative explained that the staff works alongside homeowners to figure out what they can afford while helping to maintain the architectural character of their property. There are new, more affordable products on the market that closely resemble the original material.  There is also a financial hardship provision in the preservation ordinance, which protects owners from being forced to make changes they cannot afford.  Moreover, the ordinance does not compel owners to replace non-historic materials that were in place at the time of designation.   

Attendees at these information sessions were also reassured that historic designation was not linked to property tax assessment and that it does not dictate use, which is governed by zoning. 

As before, the Spruce Hill Historic District nomination campaign is entirely community driven.  Because Spruce Hill is so large, the Historical Commission recommended that we divide the neighborhood into four quadrants.  SHCA raised money to hire an outside consultant. They researched and photographed all of the properties in the southeast quadrant, which will be the first quadrant to be evaluated. This information is part of the nomination, which is currently being reviewed by Philadelphia Historical Commission staff.  After every owner in the proposed district receives written notice, the Philadelphia Historical Commission will hold two public hearings.  Finally, the Commission will vote to accept or not accept the nomination to designate the district as historic.  

My understanding of the designation process and my support for it has been shaped by my participation on the Spruce Hill Zoning Committee, where we review any projects that require variances from the zoning code.  These requested variances are often for use, parking, and setbacks. They are never for demolition, because no permission is needed: Demolition is currently allowed by right. 

When we ask why a developer is demolishing a historic building, we often hear that the layout of the plan is not conducive to current student desires for studio apartments (not group housing) or that the cost to maintain it is too high.  Since the current zoning allows demolition, all that we can do is request that they keep the existing structure, and find creative solutions to preserve and reuse it.  These are simply recommendations, as they are not binding. The zoning code does not compel developers to think creatively about historic preservation, nor are there sufficient incentives for them to do so. That is why the protection offered by listing on the Register of Historic Places is so important. 

Spruce Hill is not alone in our fears about the destruction of our neighborhood. Many of the 25 new historic district designations in the last six years have been community-led. Powelton Village has similar housing stock and is also near a university that generates a demand for student housing. They were successful in their community-led effort to protect their neighborhood through designation as a historic district.  We hope to do the same to preserve the special character of our neighborhood. 

Julie Bush, ASLA is a Principal at Ground Reconsidered and a member of the Context Editorial Board .

For more information on the Spruce Hill Historic District, go to this link: 

https://ucityhistorical.wordpress.com/spruce-hill-historic-district/